


A Moment of Music

by Evitcani



Series: After the Bow [3]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Big Smiles and Big Hearts, Domestic, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 05:55:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11285058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evitcani/pseuds/Evitcani
Summary: “Bye, Taako, we love you,” Magnus shouted up the stairs. When there was no reply, he shouted it again, cupping his hands around his mouth. Kravitz joined him on the third attempt. A pillow arced off the upper landing, corrected its angle midair, then smacked Magnus in the face. He took it with grunt and a guffaw.Set roughly ten years post-canon. Magnus rushes Kravitz to the park for an important birthday present.No series context needed forAfter the Bow.





	A Moment of Music

**Author's Note:**

> This is over ten years post-canon. It follows _The One with Tentacles_ directly, happening the day after.

A pair of faintly glowing eyes blinked slowly from the darkness. Sunlight barely lifted itself past the garish curtains. Kravitz continued soaking in the warmth, pressing his cool cheek to Taako’s forehead. He let the sleep fall away in gentle waves. Taako murmured some nonsense from his dreams and shifted against Kravitz’s side. Somewhere between Taako’s light snores and realizing there was a small amount of drool on his nightshirt, Kravitz fell a little more in love. 

There had been a time when he’d thought everything had a limit. Love was a reassurance that eternity was not a cruel sentence. No, this could never be cruel, he thought as he swept aside a curl from Taako’s cheek. He let his hand rest there for a moment, dust motes dancing in the sunlight patterned by beads clinging to the edges of the curtains. Taako’s ear twitched, earrings jangling, and he nuzzled more into Kravitz’s side.

“Ya’aburnee,” Kravitz murmured as tenderly as he had the night before. It was a new word, but of course had always been there like everything from before he had died. He knew it wasn’t a fair sentiment. Privately, he could enjoy the thought of forgetting what _alone_ meant. 

Regretfully, he slid out from under Taako. Once he’d freed himself from the tangle of sheets, he brushed a feather light kiss on his temple and crept to the dresser. The rattle from opening a drawer disrupted a tube of lipstick which Kravitz snatched from the air before it could fall to the floor. Instead of putting it down, he turned to the mirror on Taako’s vanity and put it on quickly. Pressing his lips together so he didn’t laugh, Kravitz leaned over Taako and kissed him all over the side of his face. 

“Mm,” Taako complained, rolling over. Kravitz quickly kissed the bright pink across that side of Taako’s face, too. Taako swatted at him weakly. “Stop it, ‘m sleepin’,” he whined. Kravitz grabbed his wrist and kissed his hand until he started giggling into the pillows. “‘M serious,” he insisted, pulling a pillow over his head and twisting his hand in Kravitz’s hold. 

Satisfied Taako would wake up covered in lipstick stained kisses, Kravitz let go and returned to the dresser with a grin. He pulled out a tunic and leggings, picking up his boots as he tiptoed into the hallway. It wasn’t the first time he’d dressed in the middle of the upper landing. Thoroughly less embarrassing than when Merle had stumbled out of the guest room and muttered, “ _Nice_ ,” after checking him out. There was a part of him that still watched the guest room door, even knowing no one was there.

Kravitz paused in Magnus’s doorway at a loud snore from the bed. Smiling, he moved quietly to Magnus’s side, delighting to see Magnus was sound asleep. “Magnus,” he whispered, trying only marginally to wake him. Magnus kept snoring right through it, not even a flicker in his face. Kravitz’s ears moved up and forward, watching Magnus for a moment. He laughed and leaned over, kissing his ear. “Magnus,” he said more loudly. 

Magnus rolled over and engulfed Kravitz with his arms, pulling him down onto the bed without breaking a beat of snores. Huffing with laughter, Kravitz kissed a pink smear across Magnus’s nose. The big man snuffled, snorting and wrinkling his nose. He opened his eyes blearily, squinting at Kravitz. “Good mornin’, Krav,” he mumbled, tucking his face into Kravitz’s hair. 

Kravitz reached up and ran a hand through the grey at Magnus’s temple. “Magnus, you said seven. If this is what you had planned, then we’re right on schedule,” he remarked, tugging a little harder than necessary at a knot. 

“Seven? It’s like six, dude -,” Magnus grumbled, nuzzling the top of Kravitz’s hair like he was trying to hide. All at once, Magnus was up and moving, throwing open the curtains. Kravitz blinked at the sudden loss, watching Magnus dive into his closet for a shirt. “Ah,” Magnus hissed, grabbing a pair of pants from the floor and dressing hastily. He kicked on his shoes and grabbed Kravitz’s hand, dragging him towards the door. “C’mon, c’mon,” Magnus insisted while Kravitz tried to stay on his feet. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming,“ Kravitz laughed. Fortunately, Magnus let go of his hand while they thundered down the stairs, Magnus pausing only to scoop up a basket by the door. Kravitz slowed down by the mirror, trying to pull his hair into some semblance of order with a ribbon. The bright pink smeared across and around his lips wasn’t exactly fetching, but the best he could manage was cleaning up the edges. He felt Magnus’s hand on his wrist as he tried to keep Kravitz moving. 

“Bye, Taako, we love you,” Magnus shouted up the stairs. When there was no reply, he shouted it again, cupping his hands around his mouth. Kravitz joined him on the third attempt. A pillow arced off the upper landing, corrected its angle midair, then smacked Magnus in the face. He took it with grunt and a guffaw.

“Shut up ya fucks, I hear you!” Taako snarled, naked and leaning against the banister. His ears gave him away, cocked up attentively and trembling slightly with withheld laughter.

Kravitz only had a moment to admire his handiwork with the lipstick before Magnus was tugging him towards the door. He resisted long enough to blow Taako a kiss, which was returned with a glare, then grabbed the door handle and slammed it shut on the way out. 

Magnus froze halfway to the sidewalk. “Stay here,” he commanded, running back up to the house. “Spice! C’mon, wanna go to the park? Aw, yes you do, yes you do wanna go to the park.” 

Spice, predictably, shot straight past Magnus to Kravitz. Though it would be better to say she shot _through_ Magnus. “Good girl,” Kravitz praised, crouching down to pet her. He ruffled her ears and summoned a shadow to clip onto her collar. It went unwillingly, as they always did, but obeyed.

Jogging over, Magnus stared down at the big dog sadly. “Kravitz, can you pet her on the head for me?” Kravitz scratched her behind the ear and Magnus grinned. “Such a good girl,” he crooned, hand waving vaguely near her head. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth and she barked happily at Magnus, leaning up into his hand as if he could touch her. 

Magnus took Kravitz’s hand and kept their pace at a stroll, fingers intertwined while Spice led them on to the park, pausing occasionally to sniff at flowers and wag her tail. “You were in such a hurry earlier,” Kravitz commented, bumping his shoulder into Magnus’s. 

“Yeah, but you _like_ walking. It’s part of the present,” Magnus shrugged, swinging the basket sharply enough to rustle its contents.

Kravitz snorted, waiting to reply until they passed a dog who loudly took offense to Spice being a ghost. She trotted on with her chin high and he gave her a pat on the head for acting like the bigger dog. “I _do_ like getting places.” 

“Uh huh, that’s why you and Taako take the long way home from the bakery,” Magnus laughed, bumping into Kravitz’s shoulder enough to make him stumble slightly. Kravitz straightened with a laugh; Spice turned to watch them before going back about her business. 

His thoughts flickered to the many times he and Taako had stopped along the beach because their teasing had turned a little too intimate for either of them to wait until they got home. Kravitz cleared his throat, watching Spice walk straight through a tree. “Yeah, guess you caught me,” he replied with a smile. Magnus already called them _rabbits_ ; Kravitz wasn’t keen to figure out what other nicknames he could come up with. “I’m boring enough to put ‘walking’ on my list of hobbies.” He grinned, feeling warmth creeping into his cheeks, ears flattening against his head. _Traitors_ , he accused them internally. 

“And that’s why we love you,” Magnus grinned, turning to kiss Kravitz on the side of the face sloppily, making his ears twitch up.

Kravitz gave him a sidelong look, catching sight of the smear of bright pink across Magnus’s nose and ear. He hummed, keeping the information to himself with a smirk. “I was surprised to catch you still snoring this morning,” he commented, changing the subject. 

Magnus rolled his eyes, squeezing Kravitz’s hand. “Yeah, it’s almost like someone kept me up all night banging their headboard against my wall,” he said, keeping his eyes forward. “More loudly than usual. What’d Taako get you? I mean, I have an _idea_ , but -.”

Kravitz averted his eyes, feeling his ears dip. If Magnus didn’t need to know about the beach, he didn’t need to know about the tentacles. “N - new toy,” he evaded with a nervous laugh. 

“It certainly _sounded_ fun,” Magnus grinned slyly, nudging him in the side. Kravitz bit his lip not to laugh. He knew Magnus thought he wasn’t being obvious about blushing hard. 

He wanted to say, ‘ _You’re always welcome to join us_ ,’ but it would turn the conversation thin. Magnus already knew he was welcome, but he never vocalized it. Kravitz and Taako had made a game of seeing if they could guess what things they did at dinner that would have Magnus slipping into their room immediately after. So far, putting Magnus between their bickering worked more often than not. Instead of saying what he wanted to, Kravitz squeezed Magnus’s hand in his and said, “I’m looking forward to see what rushed both of us out here so early.” 

Magnus’s face brightened and Kravitz’s ears flicked forward as if to take all of him in. “It’s -! Well, you’ll see,” he practically giggled, tugging Kravitz forward at a brisker pace. As soon as they hit the gates of the park, Magnus stopped and put his arms around Kravitz’s waist. “Ready?” 

Kravitz automatically leaned into Magnus’s chest, turning his head to look at him curiously, “For wha - ?” He was glad that his only reaction to Magnus throwing him over his shoulder was to flatten his ears against his head. 

Spice chased after them gleefully as Magnus sprinted through the park. Kravitz crossed his arms and glared at every person who stared after them. Less because he was angry at them and more that it made him feel marginally less like a helpless damsel. Magnus tossed him down onto something surprisingly soft and warm. He smiled down at the pallet of blankets, feeling Taako’s magic in the warmth. 

“I _absolutely_ hate when you do that,” Kravitz growled halfheartedly. Spice circled the pallet and Kravitz let her off the leash, winding the trembling shadow around his arm to calm it down. “You did good,” he murmured reassuringly. Kravitz watched Spice running off towards the dogs and their owners that no longer minded she was incorporeal. He was more concerned about her having fun than her safety. It wasn’t like she could get hit by a carriage a _second_ time. 

Magnus flopped down next to him and curled against his side. “Uh huh,” he said disbelievingly. “Don’t like big, strong men who don’t need levitate to carry you around?” He flexed with a wink, patting at a bicep. “Don’t like to brag, but I could pick both you and Taako up.” He paused in, what Kravitz assumed, was meant to be dramatic manner, meeting Kravitz’s eyes and whispering, “ _At the same time_.”

“Big? I’m taller than you,” Kravitz said with a pointedly unimpressed look. “Besides, the doctor said you need to take it easier on your back.” 

Magnus wrinkled his nose and thumped Kravitz on the thigh. “Way to make a guy feel old,” he complained, waving his hand vaguely in Kravitz’s face. “ _Some_ of us can’t be eternally young.”

Snorting, Kravitz ran his fingers along the grey at Magnus’s temple. “I wasn’t young when I died and I certainly don’t look it now,” he demurred with a tug hard enough to make Magnus wince slightly. He was fond of Magnus’s grey and the wrinkles around his eyes. There were only a few strands of white in his own hair, which Taako plucked whenever he noticed, but it was comforting in not being alone with crow's feet. In Kravitz’s defense, he was sure he was far from the only person who felt incredibly old dealing with Taako on a regular basis.

“Yeah, but you’re, you know. _Distinguished_ ,” Magnus shrugged, patting Kravitz’s stomach. “But I think Taako’s cooking is doing something to both of us -. Uh, what does he call you every other sentence? Oh yeah! _Handsome_.” He smirked, squeezing Kravitz around the middle. 

Kravitz tried not to preen, ears flicking up at the compliment. “What are we doing now?” He asked instead, propping himself up with the pillows. He shuddered as he felt the shadow crawl into his rib cage and put a curious hand on his stomach. 

Magnus sat up, too, pulling a wooden block out of the basket he’d brought. He tossed it to Kravitz, who caught it with some fumbling, and grabbed a knife. Leaning against Kravitz’s chest, he grabbed his right hand and put it over his own. Slowly, he started whittling away at the block of wood, Kravitz’s hand awkwardly moving with his. “You said you learn best when you can feel things for yourself, right?” 

Kravitz smiled, feeling the gentle way Magnus’s fingers moved and snipped at the grain. Relaxing his hold, he let himself simply follow Magnus’s movements. He put his free hand carefully on Magnus’s hip and rested his chin on top of his head. They snuggled under a blanket when the autumn winds tried to set in a chill. 

“Kravitz?”

“Mm?” Kravitz answered lazily, eyes and ears drooping where he draped himself over Magnus. 

“Any new memories lately?” Magnus laughed, shifting under Kravitz as if to shake him out of the sluggishness that sat on him heavily. 

Kravitz considered the question seriously. “I remembered some endearments in Church. The language, I mean,” he replied slowly, turning his head to rest his cheek against Magnus’s hair. 

There was a beat of silence. “Sorry,” Magnus paused in his whittling to try to look up at Kravitz. “You know I’m going to ask what it is. C’mon dude, efficient conversation,” he teased and Kravitz moved his hand to wrap it around Magnus’s waist.

“Maybe you’re not interested in endearments in a language you don’t know. Maybe,” Kravitz continued, freeing his hand and waving it vaguely, “I want to keep their embarrassing secret meaning to myself.”

“Aw bunk, now you have to tell me,” Magnus grinned, starting back up his whittling with a slight shake of his head. “You don’t say something is embarrassing and then _not_ expect to get that turned right back on you. I thought you were a professional.”

“I’m a professional Death,” Kravitz protested with a snort. “Ah, well one was habiibii, my love. Ya amar is for someone who is beautiful -.”

“Taako,” Magnus supplied.

Kravitz hummed in agreement. “‘Umri is my life and the last one is -,” he tried to continue.

“Wow, these really _are_ embarrassing,” Magnus laughed, pausing to wave the knife vaguely. “The worst I ever called Jules was _baby_ , Kravitz.” 

Kravitz paused, smiling against Magnus’s hair. He loved it whenever Magnus shared a part of her without flinching. Putting his hand down, he reconsidered his last endearment. It wasn’t a sentiment Magnus would like. “Well, good thing for you, that was the last one,” he lied smoothly.

“You said there was one more,” Magnus said without hesitation. 

In the silence, Kravitz considered his options carefully. “Ya’aburnee, bury me. It means you don’t want to have to live long enough to know life without someone,” he whispered, hoping his words were lost in the rustle of the leaves overhead. 

“I bet that’s your favorite one,” Magnus snorted, stopping his knife again to turn a judgmental look on Kravitz. 

Kravitz sat back with an eye roll. “You got it in one,” he laughed, gesturing to himself. “Add ‘predictability’ to my list of hobbies.”

“With ‘walking’ already on there, you’re just repeating yourself,” Magnus snorted again and dropped the knife back into the basket. “Soon, you can add ‘wood carving’. Really make your suitors swoon.” He held the little wooden battle-wagon out to Kravitz. “Next time, it’s your turn.”

He took it and admired the fine details he hadn’t been able to see Magnus doing. Kravitz had no doubt he’d never get anything near the little toy. “I really don’t this is the kind of wood Taako is interested in me handling better,” he remarked dryly, smiling. 

Magnus slapped his knee and laughed, startling Kravitz into dropping it into Magnus’s lap, ears folding back. “Alright! Next activity!” He tossed the toy car into the basket and rolled over, dragging Kravitz down with him. “Snuggling!”

“Wow, you _really_ don’t have a high opinion of my interests,” Kravitz guffawed, leaning into his touch nonetheless. 

“Learning things, wine, walking, sex, insults, being warm,” Magnus counted off on his fingers as he went, Kravitz shaking with laughter against his chest. “Black, tea, weird food that makes your mouth fuzzy -.”

“Poison. You mean poison,” Kravitz interrupted.

“Yeah, that,” Magnus grinned, looking down at Kravitz for approval.

Kravitz leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. “I don’t _like_ poison. I’d just never had it before. It was an interesting sensation, to say the least.”

“I dunno, dude,” Magnus said with a disbelieving shrug, “You’re into weird shit.”

Not really being able to deny it, Kravitz settled for closing his eyes and leaning his head into Magnus’s chest. “So how long is this in our jam-packed day?” 

Magnus rolled his shoulders, looking around. “Shouldn’t be long, now.” 

As if on cue, music started somewhere within the park, loud and raucous. Kravitz sat up, ears forward, looking for the source. On the pavilion was an orchestra, their melodies sweeping over the park and stirring leaves with the autumn wind. He rested his elbows on his knees, leaning towards the stage. It sounded oddly familiar. 

Kravitz turned towards Magnus in surprise, who only smiled knowingly, then back towards the music eagerly. Even when he was alive, he hadn’t imagined his own songs filling a stage on its own. He’d only had a few musicians under his direction to be background noise at parties. This was different, it rushed straight to Kravitz’s heart like he was feeling the music for the first time. 

He looked at Magnus with wide, bright eyes, “Did you -?” His head twitched back to the pavilion, transfixed at watching another conductor living the music in her own dance. 

“No, I saw a poster for it. _Concerte_ ,” Magnus answered, taking on an accent. Kravitz wasn’t entirely sure what it was meant to sound like, only that he felt he should be vaguely offended. “For the Restored Works of Alli K.” 

Kravitz took a deep, awed breath, feeling his heart thundering in his chest and the tips of his ears trembling. The music both lifted and pressed against every part of his body. His ears flicked back to Magnus at a little giggle.

“You look like a little kid who broke into a candy store,” Magnus laughed, trying to cover his mouth. 

Kravitz tried to temper his expression, diving at Magnus and kissing him right on the mouth. “This is wonderful!” He trilled, kissing Magnus again, then sitting up, waving his hand. “Listen, listen, I only ever wrote for -. Oh, they’ve changed it, but it’s -!” He felt like he was tripping over his own tongue. Drawing himself to his feet, Kravitz paced around the blanket while Magnus stretched across the abandoned space. He waved his hands with the music, as if he was conducting it himself. “The dip in the - ! Ah, and the _chime_ , it’s brilliant and the trumpet piece is -!” 

Magnus watched Kravitz’s pacing and raving with a big grin. Occasionally, he’d offer a hum or an, “Oh?” Kravitz kept having to pause to tip down and catch Magnus’s eyes or cover his face in small kisses. 

Finally, he tired himself out, collapsing against Magnus’s side and waving his arms in the air as he huffed for breath, a wide smile still on his face. He turned into Magnus’s chest, pressing his forehead against Magnus’s collarbone. “It’s too much,” he practically shouted, muffled against his cotton shirt. 

Magnus laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re an arrogant bastard and you love it,” he corrected easily. 

Kravitz’s ears pressed against his head and he puffed out his cheeks, letting out a groan. Magnus wasn’t wrong, of course, but he had the manners to pretend to be humble. He tucked himself against Magnus’s chest, sliding his arms over his side. They lay there, quietly, enjoying the music skating across their skin and pulling the leaves into a dance on the walkway. “Magnus?”

“What?”

“Will you tell me something about Julia?” 

Kravitz wasn’t sure how long it was quiet. Sometimes, Magnus didn’t answer at all and Kravitz would wait another week to ask again. Eventually, Magnus rumbled out his reply, “Julia used to wake me up every morning. It was nice. To have someone else there and know they wanted me to be there, too.” He paused and Kravitz could feel him starting to pull away, to put more distance between them. Kravitz let him go without a twinge of hurt. 

In the anecdote, there was always guilt; about the times he joined their bed, the room next to theirs, the way Angus had dropped the pretense of ‘ _Uncle Magnus_ ’ in favor of ‘ _pa_ ’. The hand on Kravitz’s shoulder felt heavier, like the lines in Magnus’s face. “She had a big laugh, Kravitz. Like someone rolling a barrel of glass bottles down a hill,” he smiled more genuinely, smoothing away the creases in his face. “That probably sounds awful, but I couldn’t imagine a better way to wake up than her thumping the pillows because she dreamt up the wildest things. Her hair would,” laughter bubbled to his lips, “it always got in her mouth and she’d have to spit it out with this _face_.” 

Kravitz bit his lip as Magnus broke into laughter, rolling on his back and staring up at the clouds. “She hated her hair in the morning. But I -,” his expression softened and he reached over, tugging the ribbon out of Kravitz’s hair. His curls fell around his shoulders; Kravitz tucked some rebellious strands behind his attentive ears. Magnus gave Kravitz a smile that made him forget, however briefly, that the sun wasn’t stretched out beside him. “I can’t remember her any other way. I know she did this braid thing when we got married, but all I see is the time her curls got stuck on the top of the headboard,” he snickered, ruffling Kravitz’s hair. Kravitz swatted at Magnus’s hand in annoyance, shoving more curls back from his face. “Does she -,” Magnus stopped, hesitating. “Does she like you?”

Kravitz looked aside, sitting up and crossing his legs. “You asked me not to -.”

“That’s only when I’m drunk,” Magnus interrupted, sitting up, too, and grabbing Kravitz’s hand. It was almost pleading, thumb brushing against the inside of Kravitz’s wrist.

Kravitz swallowed thickly, tilting his chin down. “She thinks I’m a, in her words, ‘ _goody two-shoes_ ’,” he answered honestly. “Sometimes she slaps me on the back.”

They both took a moment to breath after the answer, Magnus smiling down at where their fingers joined. “She likes you,” he murmured, sounding relieved. “Sorta,” he looked up with a grin. “I wouldn’t get too chummy with her yet, bucko.”

Kravitz laughed, shaking his head. He hesitated, looking at their hands, Taako’s ring glinting in the sun. “Magnus,” he whispered, “would you like us to wake you up like I did this morning?”

Only the crash of the symphony on the pavilion filled the air for a moment. “Yes,” Magnus said so softly that Kravitz half-wondered if he imagined it.

The orchestra continued the conversation for them while they watched the morning make way for the afternoon. At some point, Magnus’s hand squeezed Kravitz’s. “Happy birthday,” he said suddenly, like he had only remembered why they were there, leaning a few inches closer with a big smile.

He didn’t need to say it like Taako had. Kravitz knew, for so many reasons, why he didn’t say it then. Another squeeze against his hand was all the love he needed in that little moment of music and swirling leaves and a distance that would never quite be bridged.

**Author's Note:**

> Woo! I hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> Feel free to follow my [Tumblr](https://evitcani-writes.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Evit_cani).


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